Feeding birds has been a popular pastime for many years. People feed birds for a number of reasons, but the primary reason is to attract them so that they may be observed. In order to accomplish this goal of observing the feeding birds, many people mount birdfeeders upon trees or other structures outside of the home and observe the birds through binoculars. Although these outdoor mounted birdfeeders are effective for allowing feeding birds to be observed, the need for binoculars precludes the viewing by multiple people at the same time without the use of multiple pairs of binoculars, or for small children who have difficulty using binoculars. In addition, these birdfeeders require the observer to venture outside for the purpose of refilling the feeder with bird food and, in many cases, to climb a ladder in order to reach the suspended feeder. Finally, these feeders must be completely removed for cleaning and subsequently reattached, again requiring the observer to venture outdoors and to climb a ladder.
In order to overcome the need for binoculars to adequately observe feeding birds, a number of other birdfeeders have been developed for mounting onto the outside of windows using suction cups, or to outer windowsills using traditional fasteners so that birds may be closely observed by the naked eye. Examples of these types of birdfeeders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,195 and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 334,636. These birdfeeders allow feeding birds to be observed through a window with the naked eye. However, it is difficult to fill these feeder without removing them from their mounting point or venturing outdoors in a manner similar to that of remotely mounted feeders. In addition, it is nearly impossible to adequately clean these feeders from inside of the home without removing them.
In order to allow an observer to observe feeding birds with the naked eve while avoiding the need to venture outdoors, or to climb a ladder, to refill the birdfeeder, a number of window mounted birdfeeders have been developed. These feeders generally mount between an open double hung window and a sash and provide a transparent wall that allows an observer sitting in a room to view the feeding birds. The first such window mounted bird feeder was proposed in 1915 by the National Association of Audubon Societies. This feeder mounted within the window and could be refilled or cleaned by completely removing the feeder from the window and subsequently replacing it. Although this birdfeeder overcame the drawbacks of traditional outdoor mounted feeders, the need to completely remove the feeder in order to fill it was seen as a drawback as weather-stripping and the like lodged between the edges of the feeder and the window frame would need to be replaced each time the feeder was refilled or cleaned.
Another window mounted birdfeeder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,491, titled "Window Bird Feeder". This birdfeeder has a rectangular body with translucent rear and sidewalls, an open front, and a hinged top to allow the feeder to be refilled. This birdfeeder does not need to be removed in order be refilled. However, the hinged top limits the viewing area of the feeder and makes the feeder difficult to clean without removing the feeder completely from the window.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 351,690, titled "Window Mounted Bird Feeder", describes a window mounted feeder having a glass panel that faces the inside of the window, an open front, a rotatable feed perch, and a door on the side of the inside portion of the feeder to allow the feeder to be refilled. Like the feeder described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,491, this feeder does not need to be removed in order to be refilled. However, this feeder is also difficult to clean without complete removal and, though slightly enhancing the viewing area, the single planar sheet of glass still limits the area available for viewing the birds.
Therefore, there is a need for a window mounted birdfeeder that does not need to be removed to be filled, that does not need to be removed to be cleaned, and that provides a large viewing area through which to observe feeding birds.